This persimmon bread has the texture of banana bread, but it's even better because it is made with persimmons, my favorite winter fruit. It's got all the seasons winter spices, and just like how you use overripe bananas for banana bread, you get to use those overripe persimmons for this bread!
Baking with persimmons FAQ
- Use very ripe and mushy persimmons. The riper, the sweeter. Also, the mushiness of the ripe persimmon makes it so the persimmon can be evenly distributed throughout the batter.
- Note that the batter is very wet, so don't concerned if it looks like wet like banana bread batter. I use a non-stick loaf pan.
- Fuyu or Hichaya? Although I prefer to eat slightly under-ripe Fuyu persimmons for snacks on the go, the over-ripe hichaya works best in the batter of this recipe. I use sliced Fuyu persimmons for the top of the bread.
- Discard as much of the persimmon skins as possible when baking for the smoothest texture.
Step by Step Persimmon Bread
Preheat your oven to 350F. Lightly grease your 9x5x3 loaf pan with butter or baking spray.
Get three bowls: 1 large, 1 medium, 1 small. In the medium bowl, sift the dry ingredients or whisk them together to break down any clumps (flour, salt, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves). In the large bowl, cream the butter and sugar until well incorporated. In the small bowl, beat the eggs and vanilla extract with a whisk, ~1 minute.
With a hand mixer or standing mixer slowly pour the egg mixture into the creamed butter and sugar. Mix well. Add the persimmon pulp. Gently mix with a spoon or rubber spatula to incorporate the pulp throughout the batter. Add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients ⅓ at a time. Mix until just incorporated. See image below.
Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan.
Cook 1 hour until a toothpick inserted into the center just barely comes out clean. Do not overbake.
My trick to an extra moist persimmon bread...
Let the bread cool completely in a sealed environment. Use a plastic bag or large resealable container. Then, leave the bread overnight and enjoy it in the morning.
Love persimmons as much as I do?
Try this wonderful winter salad, that was a hit on last years Thanksgiving table... Persimmon & Goat Cheese Salad with Radicchio and Pomegranate.
Looking for more sweets to bake?
If you like this recipe, you'll love these other Fall/Winter bakes:
- Fresh Ginger Root Cake
- Cranberry Orange Scones
- My Perfect-Every-Time Pumpkin Pie Filling
- Ginger Cardamom Ghee Tea Cookies
Or check out all my dessert recipes & sweets here!
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Persimmon Bread
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
- 2 eggs room temperature
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ cup unsalted butter room temperature, plus more for greasing your loaf pan
- ¾ cup sugar
- 1 cup persimmon pulp Hachiya preferred
Instructions
- Preheat to 350F. Lightly grease your 9x5x3 loaf pan.
- In a medium bowl sift the dry ingredients. Flour, salt, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves.
- In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar.
- In a small bowl, beat the eggs with the vanilla extract.
- With a hand mixer or standing mixer slowly pour the egg mixture into the creamed butter and sugar. Mix well.
- Add the persimmon. Remove from mixer.
- With a spoon or rubber spatula, add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients ⅓ at a time. Mix with a rubber spatula until just incorporated.
- Pour into loaf pan*. Cook 48-55 minutes until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
- Cool completely. I let it cool overnight and have it for breakfast!
Video
Notes
Nutrition
This post was originally published in February of 2019, but was republished with step by step instructions, and tips October of 2019.
I used Bob Red Mill Gluten Free flour and it turned out very moist and delicious.
Thank you so much for sharing, Hengameh... this is going to help so many others! Glad you liked it, too 🙂
can i use japanese persimmon for this recipe
Yes, you can use Fuyu persimmon. Just make sure they are completely bletted and mushy. I also don't risk using this kind straight into the batter and make sure I pulse or puree them in a food processor first.
Can I use this recipe to make muffins? If so, how long would you bake for? Thanks
Hi GT, you can make persimmon muffins using this recipe and just leave out the chocolate chips.
Hi there! I am so glad I found this recipe -- thank you so much for posting it and sharing it with us. I had a persimmon that was very ripe, but not overripe, alone with a couple bananas in the same condition. I followed your recipe almost exactly, except I used 1 banana and the 1 persimmon. I don't have much of a sweet tooth at all, so I was tickled this bread didn't come out overly sweet like traditional banana bread does -- thanks for not overloading this with a lot of added sugars. It was just right for my palate! And the smell was absolutely heavenly while it baked. I live in an apartment building and could hear people walking through the hall outside my door, saying "Gosh, what is someone baking? They're making me hungry." This will be perfect with a cup of strong black coffee or chai tea for breakfast, even with a slice of savory cheese on top. This was a winner and something I will make again and for years to come. Again, thank you so much!
Thank you so much for your kind words, DcGal, and for taking the time to share! I'm going to have to try it with some savory cheese... that sounds lovely. Enjoy!
Very good!
I made this bread for my Christmas baskets, and it was the star of the show. Could I incorporate cranberries in the recipe?
I have never tried it but on first though, you'll be adding moisture, so adding more flour or adapting it some other way would be necessary... You can substitute out some of the persimmon pulp for cranberry, and I'd probably cook the cranberry, first, so the moisture addition is less of a wild card. If you give it a try, I'd love to hear how it goes!
This is a perfect breakfast bread. I would also like to try with walnuts and chocolate chips to make it a bit sweeter.
I'm so glad you enjoyed it, and thanks for taking the time to share. It's delicious with nuts and chips, Monica... enjoy!
Hello! Excited to try this recipe. How do you recommend storing it and for how long does it stay good? I have a lot of persimmons so I might be making multiple loaves. Thank you in advance!
Hi Samantha! It stays best for 2 days, and after that it is still OK for up to 4 days total. I store it at room temperature in a sealed bag if I'm planning on consuming it in the first 2 days.
You can always make the persimmon pulp in advance without baking all the loaves. You can store the pulp in the refrigerator or even freeze it.
Hope this helps!
Hi, can I do this with the regular persimmons? Their still hard right now. Is there a way to soften them up quicker to do this recipes? Thank you in advance
Hi Liz! You should be able to use most persimmon for this recipe. I have tried it with Fuyu and Hachiya. People in the comments have used in with American.
If you're not in a rush and have a few days, you can leave them in a bag with an apple and/or banana to ripen faster.
If you're shorter on time, this tip may seem counter-intuitive, but it works. Freeze your persimmons overnight, then let them thaw on your countertop at room temperature. As they defrost, they'll be ready to go.
Remember, Hachiya persimmons will be jelly-like when ripe. They will be so squishy you can press your finger into the fruit.
Thank you, Candice! Awesome recipe! We baked it last evening and added some nuts to it after substituting the granulated sugars 3/4 cup with only a fraction of stevia (<1/4 cup). I’m sensitive to gluten so we also swapped the all-purpose-flour to a cup of wholewheat flour and 1/4 cup of oats flour. They baked beautifully altogether. I’m enjoying it now with a cup of coffee. So satisfying! 😀
Thank you for taking the time to share, Deon... I'm so glad you liked it! And it's helpful for others to know that you were able to make that swap with success... thank you!
This was really yummy! I had so much hachiya persimmons from my father's yard that was super ripe.. I didn't know what to do with it. The bread came out very delicious.. its like a banana bread cake but with persimmons! I added chocolate and some nuts to it and loved it.
So happy you liked it... thank you for taking the time to review!